Reinforcing and protecting device for street-pavements.



W. M. PINDELL. EEINFORCING AND PROTEGTING DEVICE FOR STREET TAVBMENTS. APPLICATION FILED JAN. 3.1911.

1,034,504. Patented Aug. 6, 1912.

a" once;

WILLIAM MONROE rnv'nnmif or cnrceeo, ILLINOIS.

nnmroncme AND rnorncrme nnvrcn non STREET-PAVEMENTS.

' tween ca'r tracks, and particularly the sides or edges thereof immediately adjacent the rails, where the pavement is subject to the heaviest wear of street traffic and consedam'age.

quently suffers the earliest and greatest One of the greatest problems afiecting the construction of street pavements between andaround .stIeetcajntrackshas been due to the fact that it has been found diflicult to provide a pavement that will prove durable and remain at grade immediately next to the rails and on the inner side thereof. Where any monolithic pavement is used for such purpose, suchas asphalt, bitulithic,

etc., the vibration of the rail and the wear and tear-- of' the vehicular trafiic tends to cause the edges'of the pavement adjacent the inner sides of the rails to disintegrate fin aIshort-time. \Vhere any form of block paving is used, such as granite block, sand stone block, brick or wood block, the paving .wears out very quickly adjacent the rails and-becomes uneven in a short time. I pr0-, pose to overcome these objections and ditficulties by reinforcing and protecting the sides or edges of the pavement, along the inner sides of. the rails, bymeans of a suitably shaped and formed steel plate eX- tending longitudinally of the rails and suitably anchored in or otherwise secured tothe pavement.

Figure 1 is .a perspective View of a railway embodying my improvement. Fig. 2 a cross section thereof, Fig. 3 an enlarged sectional detail of one ofthe T-rails and the adjacent reinforcing and protecting plate, and Fig. t a perspective view of one of the metal strips or brackets by which such plate is secured-to the ties ofthe track;

The pavement shown in the accompanying drawing is a monolithic one, that being Specification of Letters'latent.

" Application filed January 3, 1911. Serial No. 600,497.

the form of pavement to which my inven Patented Aug. 6, 1912.

tion is particularly applicable and in connection with which it maybe used to the greatest advantage. The portion of the pavement outside the-car tracks, with the wooden cross ties A embedded in it, may be laid in the usual or any suitable manner,

and in advance of theportion of the pavement between the rails B B of the track. Preparatory to laying the pavement between the rails in novel reinforcing and protecting plates are secured in position along the inner sides of the rails. These plates extend longitudinally of the rails and are preferably bent along longitudinal lines to form an upper and a lower plane portion connected by an inclined portion, the plate being stepped in cross-section as shown especially in Fig. 8. In the present instance I have shown the plates provided with vertically depending flanges along their inner and outer. sides, to which are secured, as by bolts, the upturned ends of supporting brackets D whose lower horizontal portions are-secured to the cross-ties A, as by nails or screws E; This particular method of preliminarily supporting the plates 0 and securing them to the cross ties A is not 'anessential part of my invention, however,

nor is it essential that the plate C shall have the depending flanges at their, inner and outer edges, since with other suitable means for securing the plates to the cross-tics or to the "pavement such flanges may be omitted.

hen the plates C have been secured in position along the inner sides of the rails B the pavement between the rails may be laid in the usual manner, the space between the opposite plates C being filled with the pav ing material flush wi-tlrthe highest parts of the plates, and the space beneath the plates and around the supporting brackets D, and preferably alsobetween the outer sides of the plates and the vertical webs of the rails,

being likewise completely filled with the concrete, so as to form a solid and efficient support and anchor for said plates. In this manner and by these means the portions of the pavement between the rails and adjacent the latter are-efficiently" reinforced and protected by the plates C C and the wear and damage towhich they have been heretofore subjected is prevented.

A further advantage of my invention consists in the factthat the T-rails, in combination with the reinforcing and protecting llO plates C of the shape shown, constitute in effect grooved rails for the car tracks, which are required by laws or ordinances in many cities because of the smoother surface they present to the street trafiic and the better track for ordinary vehicles, the use of T- rails in such instances being forbidden. It is Well known that T-rai ls form the most eflicient and durable rails for car tracks, and that it is highly economical and advantageous to employ them where permissible;

' and by the provision of my invention it is expected that their employment will be permitted in many places where the less durable and more expensive grooved rails are now required, since the T-rails in combination with my novel reinforcing and protecting plates present to the tratlic upon the streets approximately the same surface and track-ways as that of the familiar grooved rails, the principal difference being that my novel protecting plates afford somewhat wider and better track-ways for street vehicles, along the inner sides of the treads of the rails, than do the usual grooved rails.

Having thus fully described my invention, I claim:

1. The combination with the T-rails of a street railway cautraclt, of an interposed pavement, and metal reinforcing and protecting plates extending longitudinally of said rails along the inner sides thereof, and having depending flanges at longitudinal edges and brackets attached to the edges of the plates and to the ties for securing the plates in place.

2. The combination with the T-rails of a street railway car track, of an interposed pavement, and metal reinforcing and protecting plates extending longitudinally of said rails on the inner sides thereof, and strips secured to the edges of the reinforcing plates and anchored within the pavement.

3. The combination with the T-rails of a street railway car track, of an interposed pavement, and metal reinforcing and pro tecting plates extending longitudinally of said rails along the inner sides thereof but out of contact therewith, and brackets attached to the edges of the plates and to the ties of the track and embedded within the pavement.

WILLIAM MONROE PINDELL.

/Vitnesses Eownnn Rnciron,

S. E. HIBBEN. 

